Mechanism for forming indentations in moving rods of plastic material



July 17, 1951 A. G. ROSE 2,561,231

MECHANISM FOR FORMING INDENTATIONS IN MOVING RODS OF PLASTIC MATERIALS Filed Feb. 12. 1949 INVENTOR.

A.G.P\OSE.

ATTQRNEYS Patented July I7, 1951 UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE MECHANISM FOR FORMING INDENTATIONS- IN MOVING RODS OF PLASTIC MATERIAL Alfred German Rose, Gainsborough, England, assignor to Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited, Gainsborough, England, a British com- Application February 12, 1949, Serial No. 76,114 In Great Britain'February 26, 1948 According to the invention there is provided a towards and away from the rod, and means for moving said knife periodically into engagement with the rod so as to form indentations at intervals along the rod.

In toffee-cutting and wrapping machines, the indentations will generally be formed on both the upper and lower surfaces of the rod in the case of a rod of rectangular cross-section, while in the case of a rod of circular cross-section, the indentations will be in the form of peripheral grooves. It is convenient in such machines, therefore, to combine the mechanism for producing the indentations with the feed rollers that feed the rod towards the cutting and wrapping elements. Thus, the upper and lower feed rollers (in the case of a rod of rectangular cross-section) may constitute the knife supports and the knives may be slidably mounted in radial slots in the feed rollers. In such a case, each knife may be provided with a pair of freely mounted rollers extending beyond the faces of the feed rollers in a lateral direction and arranged to engage a pair of stationary cams disposed adjacent the faces of the feed rollers.

In the case of a rod of circular cross-section in which indentations in the form of peripheral grooves are required, there may be three or more knife supports (again in the form of feed rollers) arranged at equal angular intervals around the rod and each provided with a series of radial knives as described above. The cutting edges of the knives in such a case will be of arcuate shape, and the meeting edges of the knives bevelled so as to abut along radial lines.

By way of example, the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as applied to a toffeecutting and wrapping machine.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic arrangement illustrating a side elevation of a toffee-feeding mechanism for such a machine,

Figure 2 is a similar arrangement, partly in section, illustrating the apparatus shown in Fi ure 1 in end view in the direction of the arrow 11, and

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, illustrating a modification of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a bar of plastic toffee ll of substantially rectangular cross-section is fed along a guide channel l2 by pairs of feed rollers l3 and I4 towards a rotating knife l6 which severs the bar at intervals so as to leave severed lengths on a feed channel I! lead ing to the wrapping elements of the wrapping machine. As soon as the lengths are severed, they are fed in succession in known manner into successive pockets of a rotatable pocket wheel l5 of the wrapping machine by a reciprocating pusher l8.

The invention is not concerned with feeding action of the pusher 18 or the wrapping operations of the wrapping machine, and it is not necessary, therefore, to describe such parts of the machine herein.

The pairs of rollers l3 and H are rotatably mounted in a framework l9 forming part of the wrapping machine and are driven by gearing (as at 2!) so that the rollers continuously feed the bar ll forward towards the feed channel H.

The upper and lower feed rollers 14 are each provided with a series of radial slots 23 in which are slidably mounted a series of marking knives 22 each provided with a pair of freely mounted rollers 24 extending laterally beyond the faces of the feed rollers l4. The rollers 24 are arranged to engage cam grooves 2'! formed in a pair of stationary cam members 28 disposed one on each side of the feed rollers 14 and mounted on studs 29 attached to the framework IS.

The shape of the grooves 21 is such that during rotation of the feed rollers I4 the knives 22 are restrained from movement until they are approaching the nip position of the feed rollers, when they are caused to make a quick movement into and out of engagement with the moving bar H so as to make a continuous series of clean and neat indentations 30 at intervals on the upper and lowersurfaces of the bar.

The rotating knife I6 is operated in timed relationship with the feed rollers l3 and I4 so that the knife I6 always severs the bar along an indentation 30, and is spaced from the nip position of the feed rollers I4 by an amount corresponding to the number of sections required inthe finished toffee, in this case, four.

In the modification shown in Figure 3 for feeding a rod of toffee 32 of circular cross-section, the pair of rollers M are replaced by three rollers 3| arranged at equal angular intervals around the rod 32 and driven by bevel gearing 33. The feeding surfaces of the rollers 3! are concave in shape and are so arranged that together they produce at the nip position a shape corresponding to the shape of rod 32.

'31 in a similar manner to that described above in relation to the knives 22 and cam members 28. The cutting. edges of the knives 34 are arcuate .in shape and their meeting edges are bevelled at 38 to abut along radial lines. The operation is similar to that described above in connection with the bar of rectangular cross-section'the knives 34 being caused by the cams 3'! to move into engagement with the rod 32 at the nip position and make a series of spaced indentations which together form peripheral grooves at intervals along the rod. 7

v Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I-declare that what I claim is:

1. Mechanism for forming indentations in a moving rod of plastic material, comprising a pair of feed rollers for moving the rod, at least one marking mite slidably mounted in a radial slot in at least one of the feed rollers and provided with a pair of lateral projections, a pair of stationary cam members disposed adjacent the races of the feed roller containing the knife and arranged to be engaged by said projection so as to move the knife periodically into engagement with the rod to form indentations at intervals along the rod, the shape of the cam members being such as to restrain the knife from movement until it is closely approaching the nip position of the feed rollers so as to cause the knife to move quickly into and out of engagent with the rod.

2. Mechanism for forming indentations in a moving rod of plastic material comprising at least two feed rollers for moving the rod. said feed rollers being disposed around the periphery of the rod, at least one marking knife slidably mounted in a radial slot in each of said feed rollers and provided with a, pair of lateral projections, a pair of stationary cam members disposed adjanip position of the feed rollers so as to cause the knives to move quickly into and out of engagement with the rod.

1 3. Mechanism according to claim 2, including a series 01' knives arranged in radial slots in each roller and each provided with'a pair of freely mounted rollers arranged to engage the stationary cams.

\fMechanism according to claim 2, wherein the 0d is 01' circular cross-section and the feed rollers are formed with concave i'eeding surf-aces so as completely to embrace the rod, the cutting edges 01' the knives being arcuate in shape with their meeting edges abutting along radial lines.

cent the faces of each of said feed rollers and arranged to be engaged by said projections so as to move the knives periodically into engagement with the rod to form indentations at intervals along the rod, the shape of the cam members being such as to restrain the knives from movement until they are closely approaching the 5. Mechanism for forming indentations in a moving rod of plastic material of circular crosssection, comprising three feed rollers for moving the rod, said feed rollers being symmetrically disposed and formed with concave feeding surfaces so as completely to embrace the rod, at least one marking knife slidably mounted in a radial slot in each of said feed rollers and provided with a pair of lateral projections, the cutting edges of the knives being arcuate in shape with their meeting edges bevelled so as to abut along radial lines, a pair of stationary cam members disposed adjacent the faces of each of the feed rollers and arranged to be engaged by said projections so as to move the knives periodically into engagement with the rod to form indentations at intervals along the rod, the shape of the cam members being such as to restrain the knives from movement until they are closely approaching the nip msition of the feed rollers so as to cause the knives to move quickly into and out or engagement with the rod.

' w GER ROSE.

REFERENCE CE'EED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

: ni STATES PA Number Name Date 965,598 Price July 26, 1910 1,494,263 McCoy May 13, 1924 1,839,050 Ponisch Dec. 29, 1931 1,958,144 Hutchinson May 8, 1934 0 FOREIGN PATENTS 5 Number Country Date 299,991, Italy Aug. 25, 1932. 

